The present invention relates generally to the management of liquid contaminants in compressed air systems.
More particularly, the present invention relates to moisture condensate separators for use with compressed air systems and to methods of operating a moisture condensate separator.
Compressed air systems can become severely contaminated when the simple duty of draining liquids that accumulated in compressor tanks and filters is neglected. Failure to drain the liquids may lead to catastrophic failure of the compressed air system.
Conventional solutions to the problem of liquid accumulation in compressed air systems include the use of air-water separator devices that are manually actuated. These manually actuated separators may be unreliable because they require the use of a sight glass to determine when moisture has accumulated. Also, a user must remember to inspect the sight glass and activate the device often enough to avoid overfilling of the separator.
Air-water separators that are float actuated may also be undesirable because the liquid orifice size must be small enough to open at high pressure. A small orifice may clog easily.
Accordingly it would be beneficial to provide a method and device to manage moisture condensate in a compressed air system that is relatively inexpensive, reliable, and automatic in operation.